Wild Weather

The day dawned bright blue skies, brisk breeze, bit chilly. Then the clouds blew through. Hail. Little tender maples leaves strewn everywhere...

Still sick...

Yep,I don't know whether it was a cold or flu that hit me last week, but now it has settled in my chest and sinuses, and I am totally exhausted. I thought about going to the doc's yesterday, but the thought of sitting in the germy waiting room for over an hour (I go the worst clinic in Maine, I swear)prevented me from picking up the phone. Actually, it doesn't start with the waiting room, it starts with calling on the phone.

Then they say, the nurse will call back. This is generic. The nurse will not call back for at least an hour, and sometimes not even the same day. During this time one must sit by the phone, keeping the line free, or have to repeat step one all over again.

Then if I manage to get an appointment, I rush to get there on time, to sit in the waiting room for at least an hour. Once called into the back, I have sat as long as two hours in the tiny exam room. The exam room has at least one large poster that says they will not prescribe antibiotics for colds and flu. Of course at this stage it is actually a secondary infection and I get worked up thinking I have gone through all their hoops and they are going to give me the run around about the antibiotics.

I can understand when some folks go in every other week with the sniffles wanting antibiotics or painkillers; the doctors need to take a tough stand. But I get very frustrated when there is medicine I need that I can only get by a prescription and I have to go through so much to get the medicine.

Last winter when I burned all the skin off my foot they gave me a hard time about the pain killers...three days into it. I mean, come on, if someone has burnt all the skin off their foot it should be rather obvious that painkillers are needed.

Or, I could go into my local grain store and buy a bottle of penicillin and self inject...lol.. not me I am a chicken. *bawk bawk*

or should that me *cough, cough*?

Babies!

Ursula's twin bucks


Ursula's buckling ("I'm NOT an Alpaca!")


Ursula. I love her long fringes! She is Badger's Mom. Notice her broken horn that grows around against her head. Poor thing loves it when I comb under that horn!



Here's Nive's little doeling (left) and Lillemore's blue eyed buck on the right.


And lastly, here is Lillemore's doeling.

You know what I hate?

Ticks.

And all other blood sucking parasites that suck your blood and give you nothing in return but an itch that won't go away...LOL

We took a tour of over 200 hundred acres of woodland which was recently acquired by the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine.




A very experienced forester (managed 30,000 acres of commercial lumber) led our small group through various trails, and discussed many topics such as how to best prune stump growth for future value, how much space to thin trees, much talk on the pine weevil and how to deal with that, how to manage invasive honeysuckle, the value of vernal pools and how to harvest trees and still protect those areas...

It was really a terrific two hours, and very inspirational for myself on how to best treat the various portions of my own woodland. We also enjoyed our own observations on the way- a flock of seven ducks, a garter snake, manymany jellied amphibian eggs, violets in bloom, not recent Moose poop, turkey poop, porcupine poop, lol.

Near the end of the hike,despite the fact that I had sprayed all our pantlegs with Deep Woods Off, Willow exclaimed, "Mom, I have a tick on me!"

I quickly plucked it off and crushed it unmercifully on a rock. Usually I burn them but being in a forest with an audience I thought I should keep the lighter in my pocket.

"Another One!"
*repeat crushing performance*

and yes,
"Another One!"
*crush again*

after a quick search for more, I borrowed someone's Cutter spray and liberally coated her legs.

Two people claimed appointments and left the tour shortly after that.

We did a tick check when we returned to the car. Nada. But after we got home, Phoenix yelled, "Mom, Mom I have a tick on me!"

sure enough, there were two crawling on his pants.

These went into a tissue on a paper plate into the woodstove. I lit the tissue and the tick crawled out and raced along the top of the tissue while Willow and I watched.

"This is sort of cruel," I said.

"Poor tick," said Willow.

Then the fire neared the tick and it dropped, still. A quick death. As the fire on the plate neared one side of the lifeless tick, it suddenly spun rapidly away from the flames. Like one of those wheel firecrackers.

As the flames consumed the tissue and ticks, there remained just the bottom rim of the plate, looking like a smile, with the orange flames spread out above, they looked like fiery teeth.

A fitting end for a tick.

Black Fly Flew

So much for going to the beach today with the kids. So much for the cookout to which we were invited. So much for anything beyond lying electrified feverish sneezy drippy bubbly (and not in a good way)in bed all day.

I had a Boss here in Maine many years ago-he was a transplant like myself, although from Connecticut, who even named the symptoms, "Black Fly Flu". And sure enough, every year as the maples are blooming and the black flies start to gather, either myself or someone I know comes down with it.

The only trouble is, I haven't been bitten by a black fly yet this year, so it is apparently not contracted directly from a black fly bite.

*sniff, sniff* I don't know if there is any consolation in that fact.

Tuesday

Gained an extra hour yesterday. I reset my alarm the night before, adding an hour, and was really tired when it went off, but I went about my usual routine and woke the Willow up just before the time to go...then looked at the time on my cell phone and realized it was 7 am and not 8.

Apparently I had also bumped the time on the clock up an hour...lol

Typical mercury retrograde thing...

So, we went to the farm early and found Ursula with twin bucks. Her due date was May 18th. LOL. Little oopsie on that calculation...The count at the farm is now 2 does, three bucks, with Bonnie and Lillemore still to deliver.

The weather has been a bit wild; sunny and then rain and wind, then sunny, with fast moving clouds. And the black flies are out- but not biting...yet...that must be a record! Too bad I don't keep track of that stuff...lol

Sugreca twins

Boss does very well with her due dates...Sugreca greeted us with twins this am.

Willow and C went to the farm with me this am. Of course Willow immediately bonded with Nive's doeling, who promptly curled up in Willow's lap for an hour nap!

Wet snow off and on all day.

Tree in Belfast

I love Belfast, Maine. I love the food co-op, I love the harbor, I love the architecture, I love the big laundramat that I never have had to wait for washers. I don't so much like driving in Belfast-it's worse than Camden. Imagine drunken sailors designing the layout. So, it's great for foot traffic.

My longest best friend helped (ie, he did the work while I got in the way) me replace the brake pads on the front of the car this afternoon. Yay! Driving in Belfast is challenging enough without squealing breaks heralding one's arrival. :P

BLF's first baby of 2010

Congratulations to Nive for her lovely little doeling out of Duke.



Nive didn't care for either me taking pictures or the location of the baby; I caught her hoof descending from above to tap her baby and make her get up.





Maya, Norwegian Fjord. P was trimming her mane today.

Putting in a lot of time at the farm-chores at my own place are piling up! Combing still going strong all week at both places. Mine are winding down. Obiwan, the angora cross, really should have been sheared. His combing is so long and drawn out.

Of course the excitement at the farm this am was the first goatling of 2010! Sugreca is due today so hopefully by the next time I work there will be a few more babies!

Bonnie is due soon, too. She always has singles, but I swear this year she is carrying twins. I combed her today. And also Emerson, the cashgora white wether. I tied him outside; the sky was a brilliant blue, and a light breeze about 45F. The fiber was pouring off him- floating away like dandelion fluff.

The red maples are still in bloom, now highlighted by the bright lime green of poplar's early foliage. I saw frog eggs in the marsh.

Monday

Been really busy doing spring stuff. Caught up with my friend K today and took a hike on part of her back forty. She has been enhancing an elaborate trail system down through their woods.

Here's a pic looking back up a small incline.




Here's a pic of K.




Here's a pic of her dog, Colonel Forbin.






Here's a pic of a pig I keep seeing on in the woods on my way to the farm. There is a farm nearby-but the pig is free ranging. Not sure of the breed-it's rather small in length, not in girth. Click for larger pic.

Zeus died a hero

Zeus 4/08
Tree archives

Farewell to Zeus, "Lord of the Bucks" at BLF. Zeus was visiting a farm breeding a dozen does and died protecting the does from a pack of coyotes.

Happy Birthday C

Happy 21 to my firstborn! Can't find where I saved that birthday picture, but he probably wouldn't want me posting one without permission. :P

Another blue eyed offspring-cute and smart!